The following two cases have recently been decided in the Supreme Courts of Queensland and New South Wales respectively. The first decision involves a successful argument by the Bar Association of Queensland that a plaintiff be declared a vexatious litigant, notwithstanding the usual difficulties in achieving this outcome. The second decision involves a successful argument by a barrister and solicitor that they are harmless to the plaintiff’s allegations on the basis of advocates’ immunity.

The recent New South Wales Court of Appeal decision in Bird v Ford [2014] NSWCA 242 involves allegations of negligence against a firm of solicitors, where the solicitors successfully defended the claim on the basis they did not breach their duty of care in the advice they provided to their client when playing ‘devil’s advocate’ regarding the client’s prospects of success in underlying litigation.

The judgment is primarily relevant to insurers of solicitors and barristers, and contains interesting commentary on the extent of a solicitor’s duty to advise and warn clients in cases with doubtful prospects, and also involves consideration of procedural fairness in disciplinary matters and (in the first instance decision) the ongoing application of advocates’ immunity from suit.

Globalization, cross-border transactions and transnational disputes increase the need for a reliable dispute resolution mechanism, which inevitably results in emphasis on international arbitration. Despite the costs, corporations are inclined to prefer arbitration over litigation before courts, recognizing it as better suited to meet their needs[1].

In February, we posted that four members of Congress sent a letter to the FTC expressing concerns that consumers are being deceived by pricing at outlet stores and asking the FTC to investigate. Although the FTC has been fairly quiet on this issue, so far, plaintiffs' attorneys have started to take notice.

In our last installment, I introduced the importance of making your warranty terms clear. Now, we turn to the specifics, beginning with the express warranty itself. Here are some of the boxes you need to check when reviewing your express warranty. (Note that, for clarity, this post assumes a non-consumer sale; issues unique to consumer sales will be addressed in the final post in this series).